http://www.boatinternational.com | February 2016S
mall, family-owned shipyards have their own particular
charm, especially in the Netherlands where yacht building
traditions run deep. Mulder Shipyard, founded in 1938, is
just such a place. At one of its facilities, in Voorschoten not
far from The Hague, ducks waddle out of a canal when the
craftsmen take out their packed lunches on sunny days,
a ritual set in motion by the sound of the lunchtime horn.
Mulder is also a growing business. In 2009 it delivered its largest
custom boat to date, the 23.7 metre Eleonore that was inspired by classic
Dutch motor yachts, and in 2010 the 28 metre Mimi became its flagship.
At the time, managing director Dirk Mulder had the drawings for a
larger, modern facility on his oice walls. Post recession, when almost
everyone else was battening down the hatches, Mulder decided to go
ahead with the expansion, breaking ground on his new yard in early- By the spring of 2013, the new facility on the Old Rhine in
Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk, South Holland, which includes two building
sheds and drydocks for yachts of up to 45 metres, was operational.
This blend, of the family-owned business with a reputation for quality
and its spotless new facility with eiciency built in, helped earn Mulder
the contract to build its largest vessel to date, the 34 metre, 315 gross ton
Solis. The yacht’s owners, who are all siblings, asked their broker for
recommendations on where to build their yacht. International Yacht
Register broker William Molloy and Stephen White, project manager
and IYR’s CEO, visited several northern European yards on behalf
of their clients. Ultimately Mulder came out on top thanks to its set-up
and ability to meet the aggressive delivery schedule.
“What made a big diference was that our yard is brand new,” says
Mulder. “They could see we have invested and that we had confidence
in the future. We made the right decision [by expanding]. In the end
it [Solis] was a decision based on quality, price and delivery time.”
“We were very impressed straight away with the yard,” says Molloy.
“They do their own wood and steel work, and the way they do it
shows plain Dutch eiciency.” Indeed, Mulder subcontracts hulls
and superstructures to other Dutch yards but does everything else
in-house, from the metalwork, polished to a jewel-like finish, to the
impeccable joinery. A full floor is dedicated to woodwork and the
interior is built outside of the hull.
For design, the owners went to James Claydon and Mike Reeves,
who established their studio, the Lymington, UK-based Claydon Reeves,
in 2010, with many years of experience between them. They came up
with the design for an unconventional looking full-displacement yacht
with a raised pilothouse and near plumb bow that combines a modern
edge with classic details. The yacht eventually grew by a few metres,
as projects tend to do.
The joining of hull and superstructure for BN100 (Solis’s ya rd nu m ber)
in July 2014 was cause for celebration and the Mulder craftsmen marked
the occasion with a barbecue. The yard ’s family feel meshed well with
the owners’ philosophy. Their goal was to build a harmonious, modern
and human-size family yacht.
By the Monaco Yacht Show last autumn, she was finished and docked
stern-to, revealing an impressive transom of cascading stairs that
conceal the lazarette. In an empty slip to her starboard side, one of her
great attributes, the fold-down balcony at the saloon level, lay open.
Light-filled, thanks to large windows and strategically placed
skylights, the interior is reminiscent of the best European spas, with lots
of wood and natural stone. After the heat and crowds on the dock, Solis
and her honey-toned interior, soft, sound-absorbing carpets and high
ceilings, ofers a peaceful retreat.
The routes through the vessel – for example, from the aft deck to
the saloon/dining area and forward to one of two VIP cabins, or down
to the lower deck accommodation – ofer few angles and no loud colours.
Details, such as stitched leather louvres, are impeccably realised and
lighting is placed to emphasise architectural features. Pictures of
animals, plants and a portrait of an unadorned Brigitte Bardot are the
only embellishments on the simple background. One of the owners had
the job of choosing the art. “I wanted to find pieces that were harmonious
but from diferent disciplines; some photos, some commissioned
pieces,” she says. “They echo the feel and the colours on the boat and
her environment but they are also playful. For instance, in one of the
cabins, there is a fun photo of dogs swimming. The children will like
it but it’s also meant to remind adults to keep a childlike wonder.” As for
the picture of Bardot, she says: “I always liked this image. Brigitte Bardot,
like us, has great empathy for nature and animals. She is also playful in
this photo and emerging from a boat. I thought it was perfect and I was
happy that my siblings agreed.”
The interior shows how well Claydon Reeves translated the desires
of the owners, who conceived Solis (which is Latin for sun or sunlight)
as a kind of anti-superyacht. In some ways it feels more like the interior
of a sailing yacht than a conventional motor yacht. “[Solis] is a human
boating experience,” says Molloy, who sums up her key features as being
“leisure, respect for nature, well-being, luxury without ostentation”.
Since its inception, Claydon Reeves has produced compelling sailing
and motor yacht concepts featuring sculptural shapes, occasionally
inspired by the partners’ backgrounds in automotive design. The
company also designs custom furniture. They approach design from
an architectural point of view and find inspiration in natural forms,151